Corporatism and Legal Education in Canada

Abstract

Until approximately the 1970s, Canadian law schools were primarily viewed as ‘trade schools’ whose main purpose was to provide a new generation of lawyers trained in a narrow way, without questioning the role of law or lawyers in relation to society and power. Further until the 1970s, few women, persons of colour, or Aboriginal people were admitted to Canadian law schools. Only more recently still did critical thinking made inroads on legal education and knowledge. The question is whether these innovations are already being unraveled, by conservative corporatist and commodifying trends. This article tracks the considerable extent to which these trends prevail in the Canadian context, and considers the related question of whether the period of challenging the paradigm of ‘legal education as training for hierarchy’ has ended. The author’s conclusion briefly identifies the contradictions tempering corporatist trends in Canada and perhaps providing space for struggle and resistance.

Keywords: Canada, commodification, corporatism, legal education, legal profession, privatization